We’ve become a nation of short attention spans. So short that a 2015 study found that the average adult can stay on track for a total of eight seconds. Compare that to 2000, when the average person could stay on task for 12 seconds. Or even compare it the attention span of a goldfish, which scientists claim can hold a thought for a total of nine seconds. We’re failing big time. Go ahead and blame technology—the experts do. “The omnipresence of gadgetry in our lives drastically affects our ability to concentrate by literally changing brain chemistry,” says Dr. Bobbi Wegner, a clinical psychologist and teaching fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Education.
“Research shows that increased levels of dopamine—'the reward drug'—are associated with screen use, much like in cocaine addiction,” Wegner explains. “Kids and adults look for dopamine hits by jumping around the internet, social media and online gaming. The more people are on screens, the more they are a building a chemically-dependent habit.” And lest you think that a short attention span just means your busy brain can handle a lot more things, Dr. Chen Yu’s research shows otherwise. The Indiana University psychologist has researched the effect wandering adult minds have on infants, and he warns “a shorter attention span causes shallow information processing.” “Longer attention leads to better memory,” Yu adds. “Sustained attention is always linked to deeper information processing. This is like you have a long sleep without being interrupted versus getting several short naps.”
So, can we actually challenge our brains to stay on task longer? I asked experts how we can beef up our attention spans:
1. Get moving
Never underestimate the restorative power of exercise. Researchers at the University of Illinois found that a 20-minute walk can help kids pay better attention in class.
2. Reduce distractions
When sitting down to a task, turn off anything that does not have to do with said task—email, texts, everything. And make it a habit to do so. That alone can retrain your brain, says Dr. Christine Carter, sociologist and senior fellow at the University of California, Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. Create a ritual that sets your brain up for focused time. Disconnect your WiFi, set your phone on airplane mode—whatever you do, make it a routine that you follow again and again when you’re readying yourself to hyperfocus on one particular task. Carter says it can even help to write out the plan to follow, as it will help drop you into a state of focus.
3. Meditate
It’s likely no surprise to its practitioners, but University of California researchers have found that meditation helps people focus longer on tasks that require them to distinguish small differences between things they see.
4. Listen to music
Tuning into a playlist can have a real impact on how well you tune into information says Dr. Jim Jackson, an associate professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and an expert in neuropsychological functioning. “Research using neuroimaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging shows that music engages the attentional regions of the brain,” Jackson says. But you may want to stick to classical or ambient genres when you pull up Pandora. “Many of the studies done on music and attention have been done with lyric-free music,” Jackson warns.
By Thomas Griffin, co-founder and president of OptinMonster. Entrepreneur, investor and software expert. Helping you be a better leader in your organization.
gettyThe human mind is extremely fluttery. It has a high tendency to wander away at the very first opportunity that presents itself. But you can't really blame the mind for its unsettled nature.
What you can do instead is to train it to be more composed and attentive for better focus. This will boost your productivity and help you accomplish your tasks more efficiently.
But how do you do that? Here are a few ways that you can try out.
Get rid of obvious distractions.
The first thing you need to practice is to get rid of distractions. The human mind, by nature, is a frivolous one. This decreases its capacity to focus on one task for a very long time. Digital connectedness has made things even worse. It's one of the main reasons you're constantly distracted.
So why not turn this distraction away? The best way to do that is to take a digital break. To make this task easier, you can create a distraction-free zone. Keep all digital devices, including television, mobile phone and computers, away from this area and spend at least one hour in this zone every day. You don't have to lock yourself in a room for that. It can be in the open too.
Try going for a walk or doing some yoga. You can even read a book, engage in some outdoor activities or spend time in nature. This will keep your mind occupied, and you'll not feel overwhelmed by the absence of your phone or laptop.
It can be a difficult exercise, but once you start practicing, you can easily master it. Getting rid of distractions is a great way to boost your attention span and increase your focus.
Stop multitasking.
If you're someone who likes multitasking, you should stop doing that now. Instead, try accomplishing one goal at a time.
Although you might feel like multitasking helps you get more work done, it does just the opposite. When you're constantly switching between tasks, you have to spend a little extra time repeating some of your work to find out where you left off. This shifts your attention and dilutes your focus.
So instead of doing things faster, you end up spending more time getting things done. This causes unnecessary stress and anxiety. Concentrating on one goal helps you achieve laser-like focus and makes it easier to reach your goals faster.
Take a break.
Another very efficient way of increasing your attention span is to take breaks between your work. Studies have shown that the brain is designed to detect and respond to change. This means that it stops responding when you're constantly doing something for a very long time.
That's why when you work for long hours at a stretch, you feel exhausted, even if you haven't engaged in any physical activity. This creates a mental block and results in decision fatigue.
Taking a quick break can help stimulate your brain and regain your focus. You can either take short breaks at quick intervals or take a longer one after working continuously for some time. That way, your mind gets a chance to recharge itself and be more focused and productive.
Meditate.
One of the most powerful ways of increasing your focus is to meditate. It's a great way of training your mind to be more aware of where you are and what you're doing.
This helps you bring back your focus the moment you realize that your mind is drifting away. Meditation is just like an exercise, where you train your brain to stay focused without letting it wander away.
Many people think that meditation can be done only by sitting down with closed eyes. But there are other techniques of meditating too. You can try doing it through practices like deep breathing and yoga and see how effectively it helps you regain your attention.
Sleep well.
Proper sleep is extremely important for you to stay focused. But nowadays, many of us stay up late for various reasons. This results in different problems like stress, anxiety and lower concentration levels. It also slows down your reaction time, making it extremely dangerous to continue engaging in focus-oriented activities like driving. If you don't want that to happen, make sure to get at least seven hours of sleep every day.
With proper sleep, your brain gets to reinforce the connections between its cells, reactivate old memories and pass on different information from the short to long-term memory. As a result, you wake up with a fresh mind and a better attention span.
Staying focused at all times may not be possible. But the problem is that without proper focus, even the simplest task appears to be more complicated. This can directly affect your productivity and cause stress.
If you want to stop that, train your mind to be more focused, and learn how to boost your attention span. This will quickly help you gain clarity of thought, work with more efficiency and make better decisions.
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For many of us, it’s not natural or easy to pay attention to one thing for a long period. Thanks to technology, exciting information has never been more available—and with more of us working from home than ever, it’s not hard to find a (sometimes welcome) distraction. That’s why it can be so difficult to learn how to increase attention span over time.
Even if you feel focused, your brain isn’t engaged with the present task all the time. According to a Harvard study, people spend 47% of their waking hours zoned out or distracted.
While a wandering mind can boost your creativity, it’s not all that helpful for focus. When you can’t pay attention, you’ll end up with a growing to-do list and more mistakes on the work you do manage to get done.
Fortunately, with a bit of strategy, you can rebuild your attention span for increased productivity and effectiveness in work and life.
A 2015 study found that the human attention span had decreased from 12 to 8 seconds in less than two decades, thanks to the digitalized lifestyle. And we are now less attentive than a goldfish!
This incredible finding has been reported in the Time magazine, the Telegraph and the New York Times.
If it sounds ridiculous, it’s because it is. The “goldfish myth” was subsequently debunked by the BBC and the Wall Street Journal:
the metrics scientists do track haven’t changed in generations. “I’ve been measuring college students for the past 20 years,” said Edward Vogel, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Chicago. “It’s been remarkably stable across decades.”We are as attentive — or as inattentive — as humans have always been.
But surely, brain-training games based on modern neuroscience should give us an edge over our predecessors. And scientifically engineered brain supplements should make our thinking sharper, faster and immune to distractions, shouldn’t they?
Why Has Our Attention Span Decreased?
Maintaining focused attention has become more difficult over the past decade with the increase in external stimulation. However, it is very task-dependent, according to most psychologists. The way we apply our attention depends on the importance of the task, how interested we are, what stimuli we have around us, etc. Some of you have likely already lost focus while reading this article and have begun scrolling through Facebook, checking messages, or answering a question your kids are asking.
A short attention span is your body’s response to stress or stimulation. But if your short attention span has become a permanent problem, it may be caused by the following:
- ADHD
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Sensory processing disorder
- Learning disorders such as dyslexia
- Trauma
If this is the case, you may need behavioral therapy to improve.
How Long Is the Average Attention Span?
According to Dr. Gemma Briggs, a psychology lecturer at the Open University, the idea of an average attention span is meaningless. She said:
“It’s very much task-dependent. How much attention we apply to a task will vary depending on what the task demand is.”
This is true especially considering how many times people switch through different social media apps in just 30 minutes, how employees can continue checking email for only 15 minutes at a time, and how people can sit through a two-hour-long movie without losing their focus.
With this in mind, don’t stress too much about the average attention span because the concept is unfounded. The truth is, everyone loses focus, and it’s up to you to make a conscious effort to regain it.
Can You Improve Your Attention?
In October 2014, a group of 70 scientists published an open letter claiming that brain training games as a whole lacked a scientific foundation. This letter was quickly rebutted by another group of scientists. But even this second group agreed that “claims promoting brain games are frequently exaggerated, and are often misleading.”
Then, in 2016 the brain-training app Lumosity made headlines when the Federal Trade Commission fined it $2 Million for deceptive advertising:
“Lumosity preyed on consumers’ fears about age-related cognitive decline, suggesting their games could stave off memory loss, dementia, and even Alzheimer’s disease,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “But Lumosity simply did not have the science to back up its ads.”
A similar story emerges with brain supplements.
Dr. Gad Marshall, specializing in dementia at Harvard Medical Schoo,l says to “invest more in doing aerobic exercise and following a plant-based diet. These can help with memory and brain health in the long term more than any supplement.”
Even when it comes to sports performance, Dr. Dan Bernadot, a co-director of the Laboratory for Elite Athlete Performance at Georgia State University, writes in his book Nutrition for Serious Athletes:
In most cases, the claims for performance enhancement attributed to ergogenic aids [nutritional supplements] exceed reality.
He argues at length that adequate food, hydration, and rest will make a greater difference than any supplements, even for most professional athletes.
The people who are good at paying attention are doing it the old-fashioned way.
How To Increase Your Attention Span
Wondering how to increase your attention span? Start with these 12 science-backed tips on how to increase attention span.
1. Stop Multitasking
Avoiding the desire to multitask can be difficult for anyone. Whether you’re switching between email and drafting a presentation or reading a work-related article with your Zoom tab open, you’re neither fully “here” nor “there.”
Unfortunately, while you may feel you’re accomplishing more when you furiously pivot activities, you’re risking getting less done. This is because toggling tasks divides your attention, so you’re contributing less to each task. You’re also more likely to commit errors when you’re not fully focused on one thing at a time.
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Just as importantly, you pay a cognitive “penalty,” wasting time and energy each time you switch modes. Think of your cognitive energy—your thinking mind—as a resource. Each time you shift your focus, you deplete the resource, which means you’re paying less attention to your projects and tasks in both the short- and long-term.
So, if you’re struggling to learn how to increase your attention span, close all unnecessary tabs—whether on your browser or in your brain—while you focus on just one task. Your work and mind will be better for it.
That singular task should be your sole focus until the work you have planned is completed. You will find yourself making more significant progress and feeling less stressed.
When you are committed to one activity instead of allowing other things you cloud your mind, you will be able to focus more on it. Arnold Schwarzenegger recalls:
When I went to the gym I got rid of every alien thought in my mind…I would concentrate on procedure and results until my everyday problems went floating away. I knew that if I went in there concerned about bills or girls and let myself think about those things while doing bench presses, I’d make only marginal progress.
If you really want to stop multitasking and start to get things done, grab the free guidebook 4-Step Guide to Creating More Time Out of a Busy Schedule. It will guide you to start to plan and prioritize your work and do more in less time. Get your free guide here!
2. Remove Distractions
In the book, Hooked: How to Build Habit Forming Products , marketer Nir Eyal shared the story of an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Yale School of Management who got addicted to her pedometer. On one occasion, she spent a grueling two hours walking up her staircase to get more points from the app.
This may be surprising but even highly intelligent people are not immune to distractions.
Your environment affects your attention span more than you think. Therefore, if you’re struggling to hunker down and pay attention to what’s in front of you, try removing whatever’s distracting you. You’ll not only be able to focus more on the task at hand, but you’ll also be less likely to multitask when you don’t have the option to.
That could mean putting on headphones while you work to drown out other noise or committing to keep your email browser closed until the job is complete. It might also mean deleting social media apps and turning off notifications on your phone while you’re attempting to get something important done. Better yet, put your phone in another room altogether; studies show having a phone nearby in the same room can be distracting.
3. Take Care of Your Body
Have you ever noticed it’s far tougher to pay attention to something for a long time when you physically aren’t at your peak? Personally, during busy or intense times at work, I aim to prioritize a good night’s sleep, regular exercise, meditation, and nutrition. I’ve found all these things make my brain feel sharper, which in turn allows me to pay better attention to people, tasks, and projects.
One of the best tips on how to increase your attention span is to take care of your body. There’s plenty of scientific evidence that taking care of our bodies directly impacts our brains. For example, one study shows even short bursts of moderate exercise and physical activity can improve cognitive control (in other words, one’s ability to concentrate).
A restful night of sleep also makes a huge difference. Scientists have found that sleep deprivation can impact an individual’s memory, ability to perform simple daily tasks, and yes, their attention span.
Moral of the story: If your mind doesn’t seem on par, start by nurturing your body. You’ll not only feel better, but you’ll also work better.
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4. Play a Game
You can also have a bit of fun building up your “brain muscles” to increase your attention span over time. Evidence shows games that work your memory and require focus, such as Sudoku, jigsaw puzzles, word searches, or memory games, can improve concentration skills.
As with exercise, you can reap the benefits of concentrating on a game in a short period of time. The study suggests simply spending 15 minutes a day, five days a week on training your mind through games is enough to make a difference. Plus, you’ll gain problem-solving skills along the way, which will also serve you at work.
And good news for video gamers: One 2018 study found evidence that an hour of gaming can help people pay attention to specific tasks while ignoring distractions.
5. Play the Right Music
Sometimes, noise can be distracting when you’re trying to do deep work, which can result in a short attention span. However, the right noise—specifically, certain types of music—can pack a big punch in your ability to improve attention to the things that matter.
One study found that both classical and ambient music were notably better than silence at improving the ability to focus.
A second study at the Stanford University School of Medicine found that listening to short symphonies engages parts of the brain involved with paying attention and memory. Interestingly, your brain benefits most from the short breaks between music, so try to listen to a playlist or radio station on your favorite streaming app to build your attention span.
Meditation
doesn’t only benefit your mental health, but it also does wonders in how to increase attention span. As you meditate on something, you’re training your focus, and, over time, it will expand. Think of meditation like weight training for your brain. The more you do, the more you’ll be able to focus!
One study showed that while healthy practices like a nutritious diet may help improve focus, meditation has even more power to increase attention span. In the study, students at the University of California-Santa Barbara who practiced mindfulness and meditation for just 10 to 20 minutes, four times a week, ended up scoring higher on memory tests and activities requiring attention.
If you’re not used to meditation, try downloading an app like Headspace or Calm to build meditation and brain exercise into your routine. Just make sure to keep your phone out of sight when you’re working.
7. Restructure Your Work Day
I’ve found that the longer and more boring my work day is, the more tempted I am to veer off into another headspace (or, honestly, log onto social media). That’s why I’m intentional about breaking up my work time into smaller chunks. When I have breaks to look forward to, I can give my undivided attention to whatever it is I need to do.
The evidence isn’t just anecdotal. Studies are showing that if you want to improve your ability to pay attention, you should divide your workday into less intimidating, more manageable chunks while taking regular breaks.
There seems to be a sweet spot for productivity. According to one study, the top 10 percent of workers focused intensely on average for 52 minutes before taking a 17-minute break. So, if you’re having a difficult time paying attention, try working for 45-60 minutes at a time, then building in a 15-20 minute break between each work slot.
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As you minimize distractions and get into a routine that keeps you focused, you’ll not only accomplish more (and better) work—chances are, you’ll also find yourself enjoying what you do.
8. Get Some Exercise
Physical activity can help improve your attention span and focus, as it releases chemicals in the brain that affect learning and memory. Even better than a cup of coffee, just 30 minutes of exercise can provide a short-term boost to your mental and cognitive performance, making you smarter and making it easier to focus.
Beyond improving focus and short attention spans, exercise can improve your memory, prevent depression, and help you avoid cognitive decline that can lead to dementia or other similar diseases.
9. Drink More Fluids
If you’re struggling with a short attention span, you may be mildly dehydrated. One particular review of 33 studies discovered that dehydration “impairs cognitive performance, particularly for tasks involving attention, executive function, and motor coordination when water deficits exceed 2% BML.”
According to Dr. Dan Bernadot, a co-director of the Laboratory for Elite Athlete Performance at Georgia State University:
“In most cases, the claims for performance enhancement attributed to ergogenic aids [nutritional supplements] exceed reality.”
Considering this, food and hydration will help you more than any supplement.
Fortunately, our bodies are good at telling us when to drink water. When you begin to feel even slightly thirsty, it’s time to go grab a glass of water. Keep in mind that drinking small amounts of water throughout the day will help your body continuously absorb the fluids compared to quickly chugging a glass.
10. Take Stock of the Important Things in Life
If you want to stay focused, take some time to think about which tasks cause you the most worry and stress. These are likely the most important things in your life and the things you need to give more attention to improve your mental health.
Once you do this and determine where you will dedicate your focus, you can break these important things down into smaller tasks, which are easier to accomplish and will add up, moving you forward to the larger overall objective.
11. Take Many Small Steps
Large tasks cannot be accomplished without the completion of several smaller steps. In any instance when you feel like your attention span is waning and your focus is slipping away, determine what small steps you can take to move towards that overall goal.
Accomplishing each step on this list, no matter how small, brings you closer to completing your overall objective. Making this type of thinking a habit will improve your focus in the future.
12. Focus and Re-Focus
The key to improving your attention span is what you do when you reach your limit. Sustained attention is the level of attention that produces consistent results on a task over time.
Most people are unable to sustain attention on one thing for more than about 40 minutes at a time. However, those who have great focus realize when they get off track and choose repeatedly to re-focus on the same task.
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Final Thoughts
Learning how to increase attention span requires great effort at first, especially since you’re already struggling to pay attention in the first place. However, with the right mindset and discipline, and by following these 7 steps, you will improve and eventually master your focus and improve your attention span.
Featured photo credit: Muhammad Raufan Yusup via unsplash.com